Escondido exploring ways to mark 125th birthday

Escondido officials say they’re exploring a wide variety of ways to celebrate the city’s 125th anniversary next year, including a gigantic birthday card, a time capsule and special badges for firefighters and police officers.

Other ideas under consideration include inviting residents to eat a huge birthday cake during a special party, creating a large history display at City Hall, and changing Escondido’s letterhead, city spokeswoman Joyce Masterson said last week.

The celebration won’t be nearly as large as when Escondido celebrated its centennial in 1988 with a year full of festivities, she said. Those events included the grand opening of the City Hall complex in Grape Day Park, a black-tie gala and a large parade featuring Mickey and Minnie Mouse.

“I don’t think there will be a large dinner like we had back then,” Masterson said. “Most cities do somewhat low-key things to celebrate 125 years.”

Another reason the celebration will be relatively small is the city’s focus on preparing to host the nation’s biggest bicycle race, the Amgen Tour of California, next May.

Escondido will host cyclists and their entourages for eight days leading to the race, which will include several parties, festivals and media events.

In addition, city officials plan to focus significant time and energy on raising more than $400,000 to cover expenses for the event.

Partly because Escondido will host so many events next year, the city recently hired a special events coordinator, Teresa Collins, to help organize planning for them.

Masterson said the bulk of the 125th anniversary celebration will probably be focused on the city’s actual birthday on Oct. 8, giving city officials and volunteers a few months to plan and coordinate events after the bike race.

Wendy Barker, executive director of the Escondido History Center, said she and her volunteers are enthusiastic about participating in whatever events the city chooses.

She said the city’s annual Grape Day Festival, held each September, will focus more on Escondido’s agricultural roots than in years past because of a grant she recently received from the Escondido Charitable Foundation.

Barker said focusing more on the city’s early years would make this year’s Grape Day events a good fit with the 125th anniversary theme.

Masterson said she has been studying what other cities have done to celebrate their 125th anniversary, which is called a quasquicentennial.

In recent years, Redlands issued a special historical calendar, South Pasadena attached banners with old photos to city light poles, and National City hosted an old-fashioned community picnic.

Oceanside, which turns 125 three months before Escondido next July, is also exploring some events for 2013.

City Councilman Ed Gallo, who was on the planning committee for Escondido’s 100th birthday in 1988, said city officials seem to have the right idea.

“It’s a notable anniversary, but it’s not like 100 or 200 or even 150,” he said. “It shouldn’t be an immense blowout.”

Masterson said people with ideas for the celebration should email her at